NewYear, New Old Stuff

Another Year Starts

And hopefully a better one. The first week is a little slow. Less old back bathroom as it slowly goes away to make room for the new. Going to advertise in the newspaper next week. The Skilled Trades Business Services section in Craigslist is just too full of over-posters and fly-by-nighters. There's one guy who has as many names as I got fingers and toes, if not more.

Some Borrowed Books

Two good reads by Jim Butcher, Storm Front which is about a wizard set in Chicago, ala Sam Spade. This is the first of a series. Solid read, has organized crime, black and white magic , including vampires, which makes for a fascinating mix. In the best pulp detective fiction tradition, our hero does not have a smooth time of it. He's perpetually broke, gets beaten up now and then, and is in trouble up past his neck.

The next is Captain's Fury. Note that this is the fourth of a fantasy series, The Codex Alera. No flat spots but a good run all the way through, somewhat more traditional fantasy with a touch of the Roman Empire even down to Latin names. Being later in Butcher's career and that he is more successful, the author's name is at the top and the title is at the bottom in font half the size. Usually this means that the author is grinding out the same tired plot but with with different names and places. Not in Jim Butcher's case, each book is as good as the last, and the reader gets a fresh plot.

P. T Deutermann, The Firefly. A terrorist/assassin is going to do something really bad. Granted, many a tree and much ink has been used to make many a book with this very old plot. Deutermann refreshes it however, and it is a reasonably paced well written tale. Many twists and turns so it isn't dull. Worth borrowing. I still like his sea story better, The Scorpion in The Sea, and have marked that as an addition to my permanent collection.

Harold Coyle and Barrett Tillman, Harold Coyle's Strategic Solution's inc./Prometheus's Child. First off, the dust jacket shows a picture of the USS Wisconsin firing a broadside. Nowhere in the novel is a mention of any navy ship, let alone a battleship. Also the Wisconsin is now part of a museum and is a permanent exhibit in Norfolk, Virginia. It's definitely retired from active duty.

Harold Coyle has always been a little behind the times. He was writing about the Cold War going hot when the entire East Bloc was collapsing under its own weight. This tale is about a private security agency undertaking training and later an operation in Africa and later on, action on the high seas. Considering how Blackwater and other private security firms made the news last year in a very un-positive light, it's doubtful if this will ever be the case in real life. However it's a good read for a slow day.

The 401 K? What 401K?

It's now an IRA. It's going to be mostly Dodge and Cox Stock Fund with some bonds. However, the "adviser" thinks I'm way too aggressive in investing, being a hundred percent stock. Not really keen on bonds, since the Fed is turning the dollar into toilet paper instead of just letting the subprime mess work itself out on it's own. Ah, we shall see. At least the Time Warner stock will be history. Seven years I had it and it's done better then a loss but not by much.

The Biz.

Someone wanted me to replace a shutoff valve for a toilet. No big thing but the house water shutoff wouldn't. I was certain the valve would break before it would close, causing much flooding that could only be stopped by shutting it off at the street. Yikes. No need to test my liability insurance like that.

The Eye

I can actually read with it. Well, up to a point. Definitely no small print right now. Slight double image but I can focus most of it out. The lens must have been displaced when the iris was damaged. Not going to get that fixed though. Eyes just do not like being messed with. It's bad enough having to watch out for retinal detachment and glaucoma without making it worse.

Finally, Thinning The Herd

Iowa Caucus today. Polls that really count. Opinion polls are useful up to a point, per se, a business deciding if to go with scented spark plugs or pastel brake pads for instance. Politicians deciding to trot out empty promises on cutting taxes or drugs for everybody, another example.

The Presidential Hopeful Candidates herd is way too large, and over the next two months will get some much needed culling. It has been so bad, some were found as far north as Alaska.